


Three Little Words

by ChibiYoda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Confessions of love, Fluff, Insecure Bruce, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, This Is My Ship and It Has Wrecked Me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-18 04:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiYoda/pseuds/ChibiYoda
Summary: It's difficult to let your emotions breathe after keeping them bottled up for so long.





	

Tranquility never comes easily to Bruce. It’s a stranger to him most of the time. But here, Bruce was at peace. The ocean stretched out before him, filling his field of vision. He breathed in the fresh air and drunk in the sunshine and was appreciative of the ease of it all. 

So infrequently was he blessed with these minutes that felt like hours. Where all he had to listen to was the water lapping perilously close but never connecting, and the occasional breeze that graduated to a gust. Here he could let his mind wander down whatever path it fancied.

This day his mind chose a path that was steadily becoming a well-defined road. It lead to the familiar, the comforting, the oddly safe.

Sandals forgotten beside him, he dug his toes into the sand and stared at the image at his feet. ‘I love you’, handwritten in the otherwise undisturbed sand.

His hand.

His writing.

It was a start.

The moment he met Tony, it was a freefall into the depths of curious emotions that Bruce was quite certain he’d never experienced before. Not in this particular combination. Not with such intensity. In order to salvage what he could of his pathetic life, fate had mandated that Bruce remain in control. As he would in any of his other efforts, he worked hard to keep himself in check. It was exhausting, but Bruce was far stronger than he gave himself credit for, and therefore he survived.

Then Tony arrived with such a force, leaving Bruce unaware that his stronghold had been breached until irreparable damage had been done. Tony pulled Bruce from the darkness that he’d come to accept as his norm, with a belligerence that was off-putting when Tony wished it to be, and endearing when it was someone worth his time. A special someone, capable of reading between Tony’s lines. To Tony, Bruce was all kinds of unique.

Bruce was instantly charmed by Tony’s incessant invasion into the life he’d constructed out of need rather than want. He could easily translate Tony-speak in a way others couldn’t. With this gift, he could hear so much more of what Tony was truly saying. Tony spoke to him on some other level than Bruce heard the rest of the world.

And the shroud in which he’d bundled his wishes and desires began to fray.

Bruce had a history of distrusting most everyone in his path. With valid reason. So why had his otherwise good sense abandoned him where Tony was concerned? And why wasn’t Bruce concerned about it one bit?

He spent countless hours pondering this deviation. The most he could come up with was that he can’t seem to not trust Tony. He tried playing devil’s advocate. Tried to imagine that Tony isn’t sincere, has ulterior motives. But those scenarios fell apart in seconds. Bruce cannot make himself believe that Tony is anything other than what he presents to him.

Bruce shudders at the acceptance that this is indeed real.

'I love you.'

Bruce tries out the phrase in his head. Another baby-step toward his goal. It feels right. It feels true. But writing out the words and making the admission in his mind are safe acts. Saying it aloud is quite another story. He has the desire to say it. To take the chance that the pendulum has finally started to swing in the other direction, heading toward some form of happiness, leaving loneliness in the dust.

He reasons that he should practice giving those words his voice. Not too often though, lest it sound artificial when it drifts into the ears of his intended. He wants it to be heartfelt, unscripted. But he doesn’t want to trip over the words either. He’ll try it once. So he knows how it feels on his lips.

“I love you.” he proclaims to the water.

In an instant, his heart relaxed. He smiled in spite of himself.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Bruce jolted and sucked in a breath as his eyes burst open. His head snapped sideways toward the direction of the voice, and he found Tony standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

“I’m sorry, Bruce. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Moving slowly, Tony held up his hands as if approaching a frightened animal. “I thought you knew I was here. I didn’t realize you were meditating.”

The calm in his heart was short lived. It was racing now, and Bruce couldn’t help a nervous laugh at his typical misfortune. “It’s ok. No harm done.” That is if you discount the fact that he felt like a complete fool right about now.

And though Bruce was embarrassed, Tony was more so. With a cautious neutrality he asked “So then, what you said. It wasn’t meant for me?”

This was not how he wanted it to go. Not at all. But Bruce didn’t have much choice at this point. He turned his head away, preferring to look at the wall rather than into Tony's eyes. “What if it was?”

Tony sat down on a chair across from where Bruce had his yoga mat set on the carpet. “Well for starters, I wouldn’t feel like such an idiot for letting the cat out of the bag. But this definitely wasn’t how I was planning on breaking the news you.”

Bruce fervently hoped that his mind wasn’t fuzzy from being abruptly pulled from his meditative state. Had he truly heard what he thought he did? And did Tony just confirm it?

Bruce took a little too long processing for Tony’s comfort. “Bruce? Help a guy out here.”

He looked up, struggling to maintain eye contact, but Bruce lost that battle the minute his words hit the air. “It was meant for you.”

Seems a relieved Tony is a verbose Tony. “Then that’s a good thing, right? It is for me, at least. Now I don’t have to make up some lame excuse like ‘I only said it cuz you said it.’ Nope, we’re on the same page, per usual.”

Bruce chuckled and nodded. Tony went on. “Now I don’t know about you, but if I’m gonna make a declaration of love to someone, I’d like to be able to look them in the eyes while I’m doing it.” He left his seat, and knelt down at Bruce's feet, resting a hand on Bruce’s knee. “What say we pretend this one was a practice run, and we do it again. Properly."

That was wholeheartedly fine with Bruce. But he wasn’t prepared. He didn’t want to screw it up. And now the more he thinks about it, the more nervous he was becoming. He sighed. This wasn’t his ideal circumstance. But the message was the important thing, not the setting. He wished he could make it a little more special for Tony, but that opportunity seemed to be lost.

Bruce mustered his courage, and met Tony’s eyes. “I…” Instantly he was interrupted as Tony placed a finger over his lips. 

“Wait. Not now. Surprise me.” Tony winked, and the awkwardness hanging in the air dissipated.

Bruce was happy to honor that request.

This disaster would end up a sweet memory that they could laugh about in years to come. But in the present, Bruce opened his mouth and sucked on the finger that Tony had so conveniently placed on it. From there, the conversation went off in an entirely different direction. One with a lot of incomplete sentences, and syllables that sometimes formed actual words, but more often did not. It wasn’t what either had planned on in the minutes leading up to Tony’s appearance in Bruce’s room. But the best laid plans aren’t necessarily required for the best lay. Spontaneity worked very well for both of them this time around.

 

Afterward, as Bruce’s mind swirled from a mix of too little oxygen intake and too much emotion for the man lying next to him, Bruce was compelled to speak his heart. He rolled his head in Tony’s direction and paused for the moment needed for the engineer to turn and catch his eye, then instantaneously the words drifted from his mouth…

“I love you.”

Bruce watched as Tony’s face melded from shock to puzzlement, but spoke again before Tony could. “I wanted to say it now. It was something I needed to do.”

Tony’s expression changed to understanding.

“Were you surprised?” Bruce hadn’t known what situation would be the backdrop for his formal confession of love. The only thing he was certain of was that when his mind and heart were ready, he would be moved to speak. It didn’t really matter what was going on at the time, as long as he was sincere.

Tony took Bruce’s hand in his. “Pleasantly, happily, gleefully. All the good ‘lys’.”

“You don’t have to say it back.” Bruce had suddenly felt the need to explain himself.

“I know.” Tony snatched Bruce's hand and kissed the back of it.

“It was the right time for me.” Now Bruce was mentally kicking himself for ruining the moment by dipping a toe into his well of insecurity. Sighing aloud, he tried to mask his disappointment in himself.

Tony squeezed his hand in reassurance. “I’m glad you said it. And it was perfect. Believe me. I’ve never heard anything better in my life.” 

Bruce was caught in the depths of Tony’s gaze. He believed him. It was an inherent reaction within him. Maybe now Bruce could finally let himself indulge in enjoying this relationship, without the underlying reservation that he was more serious about it than Tony.

 

With both men feeling pleasantly satisfied in ways they hadn’t expected to at this particular time on this particular day, they reluctantly left the coziness of Bruce’s bed, and their day returned to its normal routines.

 

That normalcy continued for days after. So much so that there were brief moments where Bruce forgot that he was waiting for Tony to say those three little words back to him. It’s not like Tony wasn’t going to say it. Bruce was confident that Tony felt the same for him as he did for Tony. As confident as Bruce’s tattered self-esteem would allow, that is. Everything seemed fine. Nothing had changed. As far as Bruce could tell, their relationship was exactly the same as it had been before that crazy mixed up morning.

They had been working a lot, Bruce supposed. But it's not a chore when you’re doing what you love, alongside the person that you love. The lab was there sanctuary. And though it might be the perfect setting for wholly inappropriate, exceedingly hot make out sessions, maybe it wasn’t the most romantic setting to pour your heart out to someone. That was probably the reason. Bruce concluded that when the two could spend a bit more quality time away from their projects, Tony would have the opportunity he needed to say it to him.

Confessing emotions isn’t an easy thing to do, Bruce reasoned. Tony’s more accustomed to putting on the alpha male display. In the life he’d led, it wouldn’t do to show a softer side. Weakness would be taken advantage of. Now he doesn’t have to concern himself so much with all of that. Tony just needs to become more comfortable with letting his emotional guard down a little. Look at how stressed Bruce himself had been over it. He had to have an out of body experience just so he could get the words out for the first time. So yeah, not easy. Tony’s a busy guy. He’s got a lot on his mind. He surely can’t devote much time to worrying about how to tell someone that he loves them. Bruce would just have to be patient. It was a virtue that Bruce prided himself on.

 

Bruce had never had to face the challenge of waiting for someone to reciprocate after he had placed his heart prominently on his sleeve. He doesn't fall in love easily, so this was new territory. And as another week passed without Tony professing his love in words, Bruce began to fear that maybe Tony didn’t actually love him.

But that assumption didn’t seem to fit. Tony wouldn’t share so much of his life with Bruce if he didn’t love him on some level. Obviously Tony cared for Bruce a great deal. Bruce found it difficult to talk himself out of that assessment. Maybe he simply hasn’t touched Tony’s heart deeply enough to move Tony to say the words. That thought pained Bruce. If that was the case though, there wasn’t much to be done about it. Bruce could only be himself, and show his love in the ways he knew how to.

And really now, who was Bruce to complain? His relationship with Tony was above and beyond anything Bruce imagined he would have with another person since the accident. Boo-hoo. Tony Stark, this truly incredible human being, let the likes of Bruce into his life and heart, and Bruce was gonna be sullen because Tony couldn’t kick it up one more notch? What ungrateful excuse for a man would pout over that? No, Bruce was a lucky guy and he recognized that. He was going to grab hold of this happiness that he’d been given, enjoy every second of it, and not debate semantics.

So with his tenuous hold on positivity renewed, Bruce cast aside his misgivings and went back to reveling in Tony’s affection.

 

Several days later Tony’s birthday arrived, and he had decided that he and Bruce should go up to Vermont to a cabin he’d rented for the occasion. It seemed like a very un-Tony-like thing for the tycoon to want to do for his special day, but Bruce had loved the idea.

They arrived the day before to settle in, get some supplies from town, etc. Bruce wasn’t very surprised when Tony told him they didn’t need to buy anything for his birthday dinner. Turns out there was a resort roughly 15 miles away, and Tony paid them an exorbitant amount of money to send one of their chefs to the cabin to prepare their meal. There it was. The little bit of flash that Bruce was waiting for.

Late the next afternoon they heard a car approaching, so both men went outside to help the young woman carry items in.

Knowing that she wouldn’t have a full kitchen at her disposal, most of the dishes were either started or altogether completed ahead of time. She took over the kitchen, and finished cooking the dishes that couldn’t be done in advance. In under an hour, everything was complete, and the chef was on her way. Tony made sure to give her an outrageous tip.

Tony and Bruce, now left to their own devices, began to eat. It all worked out extremely well. Everything was delicious. They talked and laughed and simply enjoyed each other's company. 

But as the meal was progressing, Bruce had the sense that Tony was distracted by something. Maybe he was wondering what sort of present Bruce might have for him. If Tony only knew how Bruce had stressed over the dilemma of the kind of gift he should get for him.

It was debatable as to how long he and Tony had been 'together'. Bruce kinda feels that it actually started the moment they met. Bruce knew immediately that this was someone who would remain in his life, in some way shape or form, for the rest of it. They spent enormous amounts of time together since then. ‘Attached at the hip’ was tossed about by their friends. Gradually the casual arm-around-the-shoulder began to linger. A kiss happened. And then kept happening. Their relationship had continued to meander at a comfortable pace without either of them having to give it much thought.

So no matter where someone wanted to place the starting marker, Bruce felt they been together long enough to warrant something nice. Even a little extravagant, by Bruce’s standards anyway. His Stark Industries salary was too generous, and even after portioning out a large chunk of it to a variety of charitable organizations, Bruce still had enough left to more than cover his needs. So after doing a bit of snooping, Bruce made his decision for the gift. He was pleased with it. He can only hope Tony would realize that it meant a lot to Bruce. More than just an obligation gift.

They hadn’t moved on to dessert yet when Tony’s fidgeting seemed to get the better of him. “I’ve got something for you.” he announced.

Bruce’s face contorted. “For me? But it’s your birthday, not mine. I’m the one who's supposed to give you something.”

Tony grew serious. “Trust me. You’ve got the ability to give me the best gift ever.”

With that, Tony maneuvered a small velvet box out of his pants pocket, slid it along the table and into Bruce’s reach. Bruce let it sit, while Tony continued. “Bruce, you’re the greatest. I’ve never had anyone like you in my life. And the more time we spend together, the more time I want. Maybe I don’t always say the right words, but I hope you’ve been able to understand me anyway." He reached across the small table to take Bruce's hand for the moment. "I love you Bruce. Will you marry me?”

Bruce’s eyes widened. Tony motioned to the box, and as Bruce reached for it, Tony explained. “I thought a ring might be a little cheesy, so I settled on these. I hoped maybe you could wear them for the ceremony. You know, if you say yes.”

Bruce opened the box to reveal a very tasteful pair of ruby cuff links. He couldn’t help but grin. His eyes left the objects in his hand, and traveled back meet Tony’s. “Hold that thought.” he said plainly, then stood up and disappeared into the bedroom.

Tony tensed. He got up from the table and paced. That wasn’t a ‘no’, but it wasn’t a ‘yes’ either. Bruce wasn’t going to freak out, was he?

He felt a little better when a quite un-green and in control Bruce returned a moment later.

Bruce walked up to Tony, and handed him a familiar looking velvet box. “Happy Birthday!” he proclaimed. He watched Tony open it and smile broadly. It was a pair of similarly subdued emerald cuff links.

“Great minds.” Tony laughs, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Indeed.” Bruce agreed. “Guess you’ll have something new to wear for the ceremony, too.”

“Absolutely.” Tony leaned into give his new fiancé a kiss, when it dawned on him. “But wait, you haven’t actually said yes yet.”

Bruce’s mind had been so busy trying to wrap itself around all of this that he didn’t realize his omission. “Then let me be perfectly clear.” And maybe he had been hanging around Tony too long now, because he paused for a touch of dramatic effect before declaring, “Yes.” 

As they melted into each other’s arms Bruce added, “You certainly win the award for most elaborate way to tell a guy you love him.”

Tony whispered, “You’re so much better than a blue ribbon.”

 

As the weight of uncertainty drifted away, Bruce’s conscious self felt the same serenity that until now only his ocean view could provide.


End file.
